John Dowd, who wrote the damning report that led to Pete Rose’s expulsion from baseball 13 years ago, said the report was not as damning as it could have been.

The Washington D.C.-based lawyer revealed yesterday that if the investigation would have continued a little longer it would have shown the all-time hit leader not only bet on Reds’ games, but actually bet against the team he was managing.

That made another of Dowd’s disclosures yesterday all the more stunning. Dowd said by phone that he has been told that part of Rose’s reinstatement agreement would make him manager of the Reds again.

Dowd, who investigated Rose for Commissioners Peter Ueberroth and Bart Giamatti in 1989, said the time constraints to get his examination finished and try to stem a matter that was soiling the sport, forced him to stop pursuing certain avenues. Thus, the official Dowd Report states: “no evidence was discovered that Rose bet against the Cincinnati Reds.”

However, Dowd said he had reliable evidence that Rose indeed bet against his team and was “close” to being able to officially put it into his report, but was prevented by the need to get the report done quickly.

“I think that is probably right,” Dowd said when he asked if he thought Rose gambled against the Reds.

In any case, Dowd said Rose did not bet on the Reds whenever two pitchers, including Mario Soto, started, which “sent a message through the gambling community that the Reds can’t win” on those days.

Dowd also said he has lingering concerns about the extent Rose was involved in a cocaine distribution ring in the late 1980s.

In the Sept. 2001 issue of Vanity Fair, former Rose associate Tommy Gioiosa said Rose invested money in cocaine deals. Dowd also worries Rose is still vulnerable to people he might owe money to from that time, making him a greater risk to provide inside information again if he is allowed back into major league clubhouses.

“[Rose’s possible reinstatement] begs a lot of questions,” Dowd said. “Because I would like to ask all the questions over where he denied ever betting while he was under oath. I’d like to find out whom he was dealing with and whom he owed money to, and whether he is still indebted to any of those people. I would like to ask him about the cocaine business [in Ohio] and whether he was a cocaine distributor down the line. I would like to know what he has been doing the last 12 years and whether he is still gambling.

“This is serious business, especially since he’s told someone he is going to be manager of the Reds. The people of Cincinnati should be assured that all of these things have been checked out.”

Neither Roger Greene, Rose’s agent, nor Roger Makley, his attorney, returned calls yesterday. Selig refused comment on any issue involving Rose, including if there was an understanding Rose would become manager of the Reds again.

“A person called me [Tuesday] and said he had a conversation two weeks ago with Rose in which Rose said he sat with [Bud] Selig and they came to the agreement if [Rose] made the proper admissions, he would manage the Reds again,” Dowd said by phone. “[The Reds] want to get rid of [manager Bob] Boone and bring in Rose as manager.”

Reds chief operating officer John Allen, reached in his office, denied that any side deals have ever been talked about.

“There is absolutely nothing to this,” Allen said. “We’ve had no discussions and I’d know about something like this because I am the COO of this team and I am the liaison to ownership.”

Allen said he has heard many rumors involving Rose, but that the Reds are not involved in reinstatement negotiations in any way. Allen said if Rose were reinstated he could imagine his organization asking Rose to come to spring training as a special instructor as it does with other former Reds greats such as Johnny Bench, but that “Bob Boone is our manager.” Allen said, “absolutely not” when asked if there have been any meetings to discuss making Rose manager should he be reinstated.

News broke this week that Rose met with Selig on Nov. 25 about possible reinstatement. During both the investigation into whether he bet on baseball as manager of the Reds from 1984-89 and in the aftermath of Aug. 23, 1989 when he signed an agreement for a lifetime ban, Rose has steadfastly denied betting on baseball.

Apparently, as a parameter of reinstatement, Rose would make a public acknowledgment in some form that he did, indeed, bet on baseball. If reinstated, Rose would probably become eligible for the Hall of Fame and allowed to work within the major leagues again.

Dowd said he finds that possibility “stunning.” Among his litany of problems with Rose, Dowd said is that he has seen no evidence over the past 13 years that Rose “reconfigured his life” as Giamatti asked the baseball great to do at the time of his banishment. Thus, Dowd sees no reason to make Rose the first player ever allowed back from the permanently ineligible list.

“It sends a powerful, powerful, powerful message that if you cross the Rule 21 (gambling on baseball) line, you’re not getting back in, baby,” Dowd said about keeping Rose out. “I don’t understand the rationale for changing that.”

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PETE’S WORLD ACCORDING TO DOWD

*On Rose betting against the Reds: “I think that is probably right.”

*Claims Rose would not bet when Mario Soto and a second unnamed Reds pitcher were on the mound – a clear sign to betting world that Reds may not win.

* Implicates Rose in 1980s cocaine ring: “I would like to ask him . . . whether he was a cocaine distributor.”